Week 4, already?! Week four was a jam packed week! Work at ICP has kind of fizzled out as they have made it pretty obvious that they have no real jobs for us to do there. Overall, being at ICP and TAing has been a good experience, but now, it has turned into a place where I sit and twiddle my thumbs, just hoping someone will give me something to do. It is hard to be in a place where they really have no room or reason for interns unless I am TAing… kind of discouraging, especially since we worked so hard to get here. Word to the wise…don’t bring interns unless there is room for them and you actually have something productive for them to do… I have been trying to make up for that lost time/ experience, however, by doing other things in the city!
Monday, before Ben left to go back to Indy, the two of us woke up early to squeeze in some fun. We headed first to Central Park so we could grab some breakfast and walk around. Ben is very into landscaping so this was a little paradise for him. We also got to see a film being taped in the park as well. I was ready to jump in and move the lights around!
After Central Park, we headed over for a quick spin around the MoMA. I had been there a couple of summers ago with my dad, but it was still great to walk around and see some of the new pieces. We discussed how funny it was that everyone seems to gather around the really famous pieces, but somehow, all the really good art around it got ignored. Lucky for us, even though it was busy, people are too busy looking at “the greats” instead of the better, “sleeper” artwork.
When we finished our race around the MoMA, I decided that Ben also needed to experience Cranberry Cafe before he left. We had a quick bite there then headed to Bryant Park before giving him a tour of ICP and sending him off to Indy! Unfortunately, Ben got stuck at the Chicago airport for a day and a half so it took him a bit longer than expected…poor guy.
After Ben left, while sitting at work…and doing, oh you know, nothing…. I went over all that we did over the weekend. What a great but crazy weekend! It was so wonderful having Ben in town!
Monday, after work, I had to skip out on the lighting course that I am TAing to assist Rayon Richards in a shoot. Rayon is the photographer that I assisted on the Jim Irsay Shoot a couple of months ago so it was really great to meet up with him and assist him here in New York! This particular shoot was of Josh Shabtai, the creator of the new Iphone App, Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner. This shoot was a lot of fun because I actually had a decent amount of “assisting” to do by moving lights, etc. around…which was definitely a nice change from the lack of work that I have been doing at ICP. It was really wonderful seeing Rayon again and Josh was a really interesting and fun guy to get to know over the span of the shoot. He sounds like he is going to do some pretty awesome things with his life! Check out his App, Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner! Seems like a lot of fun!
Tuesday, after “working” at ICP, Molly and I headed to a club called Splash for Karaoke night because one of her sisters friends was performing. When we first arrived, we stopped at the bar to get a drink from a man in a tiny speedo. He told me he wanted to make his specialty drink, the fruity booty…ha, right? How could I resist? The night started with some lovely “ladies” in drag announcing the rules for the night. The first round would be songs drawn from a hat followed by a second round where they could choose their own songs. I was actually really amazed at how talented some of the guys were when they got up there. It was also just really great to watch everyone in the “audience” go crazy while their friends were performing. Later in the night, Molly and I met Mario Vasquez from season 2 of American Idol. I didn’t really recognize who he was until later but he was a super nice guy!
Wednesday, Rayon invited me out for another shoot in Connecticut. This shoot was of a featured home that is for sale so Rayon had to shoot the interior and exterior for a spread in a magazine. First of all, Connecticut was beautiful. It was so wonderful getting a break from New York City and being in a densely wooded area. The home was even more incredible! I felt like Belle needed to be hanging out the window belting “ooooh, isn’t this AMAZING!” Yes, I will take one of these…
The next morning, I headed out to meet up with Shari Diamond, the women who I TAed for last week. She showed me her beautiful studio, gave me some wonderful advice on places to visit before I leave New York, and discussed photo, art, and my ideas about my thesis over a delicious lunch. I am really glad to have met Shari while I have been here. If ICP does nothing else for me, it gave me an opportunity to work with a very interesting and passionate individual who I hope to stay in contact with!
After hanging out with Shari, I headed in to ICP. When I got there and realized that neither Molly nor I had anything to do…again… Leigh, our “kinda supervisor” took us out for an “educational gallery tour.” We went to 4 or 5 photo galleries around town, seeing some really great images, including
Diane Arbus prints. When I first started taking photos in high school, I did a paper on Arbus and I believe it is really why I fell in love with photography. All of the galleries, however, were really exceptional. We also got pretty lucky to have such a good tour guide with us!
After some of the photo galleries, we headed to Chelsea for their open gallery night. First, however, we were stopped in the middle of 5th Ave to watch a shoot taking place of a model walking across the street. Quite the site to see. When we got to Chelsea, we found some not so hot and some incredible pieces of artwork throughout some of the galleries we visited. The paintings below by
Rafael Santiago were my favorite!
After an afternoon filled with some awesome art, Leigh, his girlfriend Ana, Molly, and I went to dinner and had fun recapping the day and our internship.
Finally, Friday came! Molly and I started our trek early to get to the Bronx where my friend Tony lives. Tony was nice enough to let me borrow his car to go see my boyfriend’s band,
Rodeo Ruby Love, open up for
Reel Big Fish and
Streetlight Manifesto in Poughkipsie, NY. This is Rodeo’s first bigger tour and after hearing their stories and excitement about it for the last month, I finally got to go see them! When we got there, we got a chance to grab some food and hang out for a bit before it started. It was really really wonderful to see everyone after a month….I was way in need of some familiar faces, especially these faces in particular! Recently, another opener,
New Riot, just got added to the tour and they were the ones to start the show. They guys all seemed really great but I can’t say that the music was quite my cup of tea. When their set was over, Rodeo played one of the best sets I have seen them play. It was really awesome to see them do what they love in front of so many people. After Rodeo, Reel Big Fish played which was quite nostalgic for me. I still enjoy listening to them here and there now, however, I was a BIG fan in 8th grade! Seeing them and watching all of the younger crowd get into it was really fun for me. After RBF, Streetlight went on and I was absolutely blown away. Kyle constantly has them on so I am always listening to them….and I liked them before… but seeing them live is an entirely different story. They played an incredible show and the singer even had laryngitis! Can’t wait to see them again when they play close!
After the show, we all drove to a hotel that was on the way home for Molly and I and on the way to the boys next venue. It was really nice to be able to spend a little bit more time with everyone after the show before heading back to the reality of NYC.
Bag lady on the subway to get our wheels!
Necessary mid-tour hair cut time
New Riot
Streetlight Manifesto
Reel Big Fish
Saturday, after driving back from having a great night with the boys, Molly and I took a little time for some R&R and much needed showers. Later that night, we had to take Tony’s car back to him so we made the drive to the Bronx. I was really nervous about driving in the city but I actually feel like its easier to drive here than even Chicago… Maybe more congestion but better, more aware drivers?
When we made it out there, the three of us went to dinner at this really great little restaurant before taking a bus back into the city to go out for a bit. I am not much for going to really crazy, packed bars but we did get to stop at New York’s oldest pub,
McSorely’s Old Ale House. WAY too crowded but such an awesome atmosphere.
The next day, I finally got to go out to Brooklyn to see my friends Spencer and Alex. I have known/gone to school with Spencer for over 20 years now and his girlfriend, Alex, and I went to high school together. Alex came out to New York after high school to go to Parsons and Spencer just recently moved out here with her. They have a wonderful apartment with their pup in a really quaint area in Brooklyn that was so incredibly wonderful to visit! When we got there, Spencer and Alex took us for a little walking tour of the area and their awesome park before we decided that we were far too hot to do any more walking. They took us to a great Sushi restaurant before Molly left to meet up with one of her friends from school. After dinner, the three of us headed back to their apartment and got to do some long overdue catching up and some time to complain/compliment NYC living. It was really nice to talk to people, who I’ve known for a while and have similar backgrounds as I do, about living in New York and how to make it work even when it feels impossible. I had such a great time with them and I can’t thank them enough for the wonderful and much needed day with good friends!
I really enjoyed reading your blog and seeing the pics